GIMIAS (Graphical Interface for Medical Image Analysis and Simulation) is a free, open-source desktop framework for biomedical image computing and simulation, created for researchers who build clinical software prototypes. It was developed at CISTIB, Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, and its clinical prototypes focused on cardiology, cerebral aneurysms and neurology. If you are looking for a GIMIAS download, the files are still on the project’s SourceForge page, but the software has not been updated since version 1.8.r1 in September 2016.
Two points matter before you spend time on it. First, GIMIAS has no dental tools and no documented dental use. Second, it is dormant: installers target Windows 64-bit and Linux distributions from 2014–2015, and the old project domain no longer hosts the project. It is worth knowing about as part of the history of open medical-imaging frameworks, but for new work a maintained tool is the better choice.
GIMIAS at a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Latest version | 1.8.r1 (6 September 2016); no releases since |
| Licence | Free and open source, BSD-style licence |
| Platforms | Windows 64-bit installer; Linux packages for Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty) and Debian 8 (Jessie) |
| Developer | GIMIAS team at CISTIB, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona |
| Official website | sourceforge.net/projects/gimias (the former gimias.org domain is no longer the project site) |
| Best for | Studying or reusing a legacy plug-in framework for research prototypes |
What it does
- 2D and 3D visualisation of multimodal medical images.
- Basic PACS workstation functions for retrieving studies.
- Manual segmentation and quantification tools.
- Surface mesh manipulation for building and editing anatomical models.
- A signal viewer for time-series data alongside images.
- Visual workflow definition, so a sequence of processing steps can be set up as a guided workflow.
- A plug-in architecture in C++, built on VTK, ITK, MITK, wxWidgets and Boost, with CMake for cross-platform builds.
- Interoperability with web services and the Taverna workflow workbench.
Plug-ins developed with GIMIAS included AngioLab (cerebral aneurysm work), CardioLab (myocardial disease and cardiac resynchronisation therapy planning), FocusDET (epileptogenic focus localisation) and QuantiDopa (striatal uptake quantification). Development was funded through research projects such as cvREMOD, euHeart and the VPH Network of Excellence.
How dental teams use it
We found no official dental plug-in, tutorial or publication from the GIMIAS project, so there is no genuine dental workflow to describe. What a dental researcher can realistically do with it is limited to general tasks that any medical viewer handles:
Look at an anonymised CT or CBCT volume
- Install GIMIAS on a test machine, not a clinical workstation.
- Load an exported, anonymised DICOM study and browse it in 2D and 3D views.
- Use the manual segmentation tools to outline a structure for teaching.
Study the framework’s design
- Get the source code from the official SourceForge project.
- Read how plug-ins and workflows are organised on top of ITK, VTK and MITK.
- Apply the ideas in a maintained framework instead of extending GIMIAS itself.
For CBCT viewing, segmentation or STL export in current projects, a maintained tool is the practical choice (see alternatives below).
Install and first run
- Windows: version 1.8.r1 ships as a 64-bit setup program. It predates Windows 11 and has not been updated for it, so test it in a virtual machine first.
- Linux: version 1.8.0 is packaged as .deb files for Ubuntu 14.04 and Debian 8, with a separate third-party dependency package. Both distributions are long past end of life, so expect dependency problems on a current system; a virtual machine with the matching old release is the least painful route.
- macOS: no macOS build is published for recent versions.
- Documentation and tutorials: the SourceForge files area still holds Documentation (2010) and Tutorials (2014) folders.
- Gotcha: do not rely on the old gimias.org domain for downloads or documentation; it no longer hosts the project.
Limitations
- Dormant since 2016: no bug fixes, security updates or support for current operating systems.
- No dental features, and its clinical prototypes target the heart, brain vessels and neurology.
- Built on old versions of ITK, VTK, MITK and wxWidgets, which makes rebuilding it on modern compilers hard.
- Marked as beta on SourceForge, and not a certified medical device.
- Sparse, dated documentation and no active user community.
GIMIAS vs alternatives
For research-grade image processing with a GUI, medInria from Inria is actively maintained and offers segmentation, registration and filtering on current Windows, macOS and Linux. If you want to build your own tool as GIMIAS developers once did, work directly with ITK and VTK, or use SMILI, a lightweight framework with a current 2025 release. For quick viewing of a volume, Mango is simpler.
FAQ
Where can I get a GIMIAS download?
GIMIAS is free to download. The official project page on SourceForge remains the reference for its releases and documentation; the last version is 1.8.r1 from September 2016.
Is GIMIAS free?
Yes. GIMIAS is free and open source under a BSD-style licence.
Is GIMIAS still developed?
No. The last release was in 2016 and there has been no update since, so treat it as legacy software.
Does GIMIAS run on Mac?
No macOS build is published for recent versions; the 1.8 release offers a Windows 64-bit installer and Linux .deb packages only.
Does GIMIAS have dental tools?
No. Its clinical prototypes covered cardiac, aneurysm and neurology work. It has no dental module, CBCT dental tools or implant planning.
What is a good GIMIAS alternative?
medInria is the closest maintained research GUI. Developers can build on ITK and VTK, the libraries GIMIAS itself used.
Last checked against official sources: 29 September 2026 (developer website: sourceforge.net). Versions and licence terms change — confirm on the developer's site before deploying in a clinic.
